Why Tunisia holds lessons for us all

[drummer]

The Guardian, Tuesday 18 January 2011

The revolution in Tunisia has given the world the most positive start to the new year since the people of Romania shot their dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, at the end of 1989 (Popular revolt in Tunisia forces president to flee, 15 January).

At enormous risk to themselves, the people of Tunisia have risen up and overthrown the 23-year-old dictatorship of Ben Ali – a monster to his own people but a long-time "friend" of the west.

I hope Tony Blair is watching the events in Tunisia even as he prepares to revisit the Chilcot inquiry this Friday to answer more questions on his role in the bloody invasion and occupation of Iraq. The Tunisian revolution has shown the world that the people of the region don't need the self-interested "help" of the west to overthrow their dictators. In fact, western governments have, all too often, supported and armed the region's tyrants – Saddam Hussein and Ben Ali included.

In chasing Ben Ali out of the country, the people of Tunisia have provided others in the region with a model of how they might deal with their own dictators. Demonstrators in Cairo have been chanting the following refrain aimed at Hosni Mubarak, long-time dictator of Egypt and ally of the US: "Ben Ali, tell Mubarak a plane is waiting for him too!"

I also hope that the TUC is watching the events in Tunisia. It was a general strike that delivered the death blow to the dictatorship of Ben Ali.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan...ercussions